It’s too bad that it has to come back to this so often with Pete Carroll, but his age is his age. And as the new Las Vegas Raiders coach is 73 years old, he doesn’t have time for messing around.

So, the long, drawn out rebuild project the Raiders look like they need following their 4-13 record this season?

Nope.

No time for that, Carroll believes.

Carroll: No Time For Years Down Road

“You all wondering about timelines and all that,” Carroll said Monday at his introductory press conference. “It took us a few years to get to the very top of the last couple of programs I was with. We’re starting right now going forward immediately.

“We don’t have some time to make it five or six years down the road. That’s not what we’re thinking. We’re going to start right now to go after it and build this team as quickly as we can. I saw Maxx [Crosby] back there. Maxx, send the message, man. 

“We’re coming after you and get this thing rolling as soon as possible with the highest of expectations.”

That has to be music to Crosby’s ears because last October, while the Raiders were already out of contention and seemingly hopeless amid a 10-game losing skid, the subject of a rebuild was floated with Crosby.

And he wanted zero to do with the idea.

HENDERSON, NEVADA – JANUARY 27: Pete Carroll (L) and defensive end Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders talk after a news conference introducing Carroll as the head coach of the Raiders and John Spytek as the team’s general manager at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on January 27, 2025 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Maxx Crosby Will Love This

“I’m not here to rebuild, I’m here to win,” Crosby said then. “I don’t know, whatever that means, but I’m here to win now. Wherever I’m going to be, I’m going to be here to win. So, that’s all that matters to me.”

Carroll didn’t win his first season as the USC coach in 2001. His team played to a 6-6 record. But the Trojans were a steamroller immediately after that, starting with an 11-2 record in 2002, and winning the national title in 2004.

Carroll went to the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 but didn’t have a winning season until 2012 and then won the Super Bowl in 2013 and the NFC championship in 2014. So success there took a few years.

Carroll is obviously speaking as if his timeline in Las Vegas is accelerated. But that comes with problems.

Problem 1: Patrick Mahomes plays in the AFC West and Andy Reid coaches in the AFC West.

Problem 2: The Raiders have no quarterback on the roster capable of raising the team to .500, much less putting them in contention.

Problem 3: The Raiders have the No. 6 selection in the coming draft, which is awesome if you need a receiver or offensive lineman or even a pass rusher. But it’s terrible if you need a star quarterback from among the crop coming out in this year’s draft.

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Raiders Will Go QB Shopping

All that suggests the Raiders will go veteran QB shopping in the offseason.

They have the second most salary cap space in the NFL at an estimated $92 million, so they can pay a free agent.  But the free agent QB class doesn’t promise an instant championship.

Russell Wilson, who played for Carroll in Seattle, is scheduled to be a free agent, but his stated preference is to play for the Steelers.

Justin Fields will be availablem but he’s still kind of a developmental player.

Aaron Rodgers might be available if he and new Jets coach Aaron Glenn cannot come to an understanding about 2025.

And there is also pending free agent Sam Darnold, who had a great season if NFL seasons were measured by 16 games. If they were measured by 17 games and a playoff game, Darnold didn’t have quite as good a year.

All of that is on the table for Carroll.

About the only thing that isn’t an option is asking Tom Brady to come out of retirement. He might still be better than all those other guys even after being retired two years. But as a minority Raiders owner, he is not allowed to play per NFL bylaws.